VOA Phones, Chilling Threats — Prison Looms

Woman speaking at outdoor event with protest signs in background

A longtime federal media employee just learned there is a prison price for a 15‑month campaign of death threats against one of President Trump’s strongest allies in Congress.

Story Snapshot

A former Voice of America worker pleaded guilty after threatening to kill Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene over 15 months.
He used government phones inside a taxpayer-funded federal newsroom to target Greene, her staff, and her family.
Eight calls included graphic promises of gun violence and claims she would be dead before the presidential inauguration.
The case exposes rising threats against conservatives and raises hard questions about accountability inside federal agencies.

Federal employee’s 15‑month threat campaign finally meets accountability

Federal prosecutors say 64‑year‑old Seth Jason, a longtime employee at government-run broadcaster Voice of America, spent 15 months calling the offices of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia with anonymous death threats.^[2]^[8] Court records show he admitted to eight calls between October 11, 2023, and January 21, 2025, all aimed at Greene, her staff, and her family.^[2] Investigators say he was not some random caller on a cell phone. He was inside a federal building, on federal phone lines, while drawing a federal paycheck.^[2]^[8]

The Department of Justice says Jason pleaded guilty in federal court to two crimes: interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, and anonymous telecommunications harassment.^[2]^[4] Those charges carry a combined maximum of seven years in prison, though prosecutors sought a 30‑month sentence, which sits well below the ceiling but still sends a clear message.^[2] Jason’s guilty plea means he admitted his conduct was criminal. He chose not to fight the core facts describing his threats in front of a jury.^[4]

What Jason said, how he used your tax dollars, and who he targeted

Court documents and press reports describe chilling messages, not spur-of-the-moment outbursts.^[1]^[2] In one voicemail on January 8, 2025, Jason told Greene she would not “see the inaugural” because she, her staff, and her family would be dead, tying his threats to the peaceful transfer of presidential power.^[2]^[4] On January 21, 2025, he left another message saying Greene and her staff were “as good as dead” and to “make your last will ready,” promising the only thing she would hear was “bang” as he longed to hear her “cry for your last breath.”^[1]^[2]

Investigators with the United States Capitol Police tracked the calls to multiple phone lines connected to studios and control rooms inside Voice of America headquarters in Washington, D.C., where Jason had worked for years.^[2]^[8] A grand jury indictment noted that over eight calls, he threatened to use firearms to kill Greene, her staff, and their families, and that he sometimes used fake names to hide who he was.^[5]^[6]^[8] For many readers, one detail will sting the most: this was happening on government equipment, under the roof of a taxpayer-funded news outlet that often leans against the very voters Greene represents.

From four charges to two counts: what the plea deal really means

When the case first became public, the Justice Department announced four counts against Jason: influencing a federal official by threat, influencing a federal official by threatening a family member, interstate communications with a threat to kidnap or injure, and anonymous telecommunications harassment.^[5]^[8] That original charging decision treated the 15‑month pattern as a serious attempt to scare a sitting lawmaker away from her duties, not just crude name-calling. But in the end, prosecutors accepted a plea to only the two communication-related counts.^[4]

That matters for how we read the final outcome. The dropped counts were never tested at trial, so the court did not rule on whether Jason’s goal was to change Greene’s votes or stop her from serving. Still, the admitted facts describe a clear pattern of targeted political threats. The plea deal also avoids the risk of a jury being swayed by partisan spin about Greene herself. For many conservatives, a clean guilty plea on serious federal counts may feel better than rolling the dice with a politically divided jury pool in Washington, D.C.

Growing threats against conservatives and unanswered questions for VOA

This case does not stand alone. The United States Capitol Police reported 9,474 threat assessment cases in 2024, including direct threats and concerning statements toward members of Congress, their families, and their staff.^[17] Outside researchers say threats and harassment have climbed sharply over the past decade, with both parties targeted, but high-profile conservatives like President Trump and his allies often drawing a huge share of rage.^[16]^[22] For readers who have watched years of “get in their faces” rhetoric from the left, Jason’s 15‑month campaign looks like the ugly end of that culture.

⚖️ One detail from the sentencing hearing has left a lot of people shaken.

According to reports, Karmelo Anthony's parents were not present when he was sentenced. They also were not in the courtroom when Austin Metcalf's family delivered their victim impact statements.

During… pic.twitter.com/wPj61wQnHk

— MKKM (@michekyakeymii) June 12, 2026

The Voice of America angle raises more questions than the Justice Department has answered. Public statements confirm Jason used multiple internal phone lines from inside the building to make his threats.^[2]^[8] Yet there is no sign of a detailed public review of how a federal media shop let a staffer weaponize its systems for more than a year without being stopped. Congress may want to ask why supervisors and phone logs did not flag the abuse sooner, and whether other partisan actors inside federal agencies feel free to target elected conservatives the same way.